All Power To The Councils!

Description

This definitive documentary history collects manifestos, speeches, articles, and letters from the German Revolution-Rosa Luxemburg, the Revolutionary Stewards and Gustav Landauer amongst others-introduced and annotated by the editor. Many documents, such as the anarchist Erich M hsam's comprehensive account of the Bavarian Council Republic, are presented here in English for the first time. The volume also includes materials from the Red Ruhr Army that repelled the reactionary Kapp Putsch in 1920 and the communist bandits that roamed Eastern Germany until 1921.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 18 juillet 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781604867398
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

PraIse for a POwER tO thE COuNcîS! a DOcumENtàRy HîStORy OF thE GERmàN rEvOutîON OF 1918-1919

Gabriel Kun’s excellent volume illuminates a profound global revolutionary moment, in wic brilliant ideas and debates lit te sky, and from wic emerged te likes of Ret Marut, a.k.a. B. Traven, peraps istory’s greatest proletarian novelist. Herein lie te roots ofheTreasure of the Sierra Madreand muc else besides. —Marcus Rediker, autor ofVillains of all Nationsandhe Slave Ship

his remarkable collection, skillfully edited by Gabriel Kun, brings to life tat most pivotal of revolutions, crackling wit te acrid odor of street figting, insurgent opes, and ulti- mately defeat. Had it triumped, millions would ave been spared te inferno of fascism; its failure usered in counter- revolution far beyond its borders. In an era brimming wit anticapitalist aspirations, tese pages ring wit tat still unmet revolutionary promise: I was, I am, I sall be. —Sasa Lilley, autor ofCapital and Its Discontentsand co-autor ofCatastrophism

Drawing on newly uncovered material troug pioneering arcival istorical researc, Gabriel Kun’s powerful book on te German workers’ councils movement is essential reading to understanding te way forward for democratic worker con- trol today.All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918–1919confers important lessons tat will avert te setbacks of te past wile providing pen- etrating and invaluable istorical documentation crucial for

anticipating te inevitable dangers in te struggle for building working class democracy. —Immanuel Ness, Graduate Center for Worker Education, Brooklyn College

An indispensable resource on a world-istoric event. Gabriel Kun’s remarkable, ricly annotated documentary collection gaters eyewitness accounts and revolutionary voices from Germany’s 1918–1919 worker-soldier-council revolution. Wereas te Independent SPD and te Spartakusbund/ KPD dominate most accounts, up to te point of exaggera- tion, Kun’s balanced work at last recovers te vital, central contributions and alternative perspectives of oter mass pro- letarian currents: te anarcists and syndicalists of Bavaria, te Rur, and elsewere, including Landauer and Müsam, te Revolutionary Stewards, mutineers at Wilelmsaven and Kiel, and te Rur Red Army. —Lucien van der Walt, Rodes University, Sout Africa

ALL POWER TO THE COUNCILS!

A Documentary Hîstory of the German Revolutîon of 1918-1919 Edited and Translated by Gabriel Kuhn

All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 19181919 Edited and translated by Gabriel KuHn

ISBN: 978-1-60486-111-2 LCCN: 2011927962 his edition copyrigHt ©2012 PM Press All RigHts Reserved

PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org

Cover by JoHn Yates/stealworks.com Layout based on design by Daniel Meltzer

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in tHe USA on recycled paper, by tHe Employee Owners of homson-SHore in Dexter, MicHigan. www.tHomsonsHore.com

PublisHed in tHe EU by he Merlin Press Ltd. 6 Crane Street CHambers, Crane Street, Pontypool NP4 6ND, Wales www.merlinpress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-85036-649-5

TabLe of ConTenTs

INtROductîONGabriel Kuhn GOSSàRy TîmEîNE

Wîlhelmshaven and Kîel ThE WîhEmShàvEN rEvOt: a ChàptER OF thE rEvOutîONàRy MOvEmENt îN thE GERmàN nàvy, 1918–1919Icarus Wîth thE rEd fàg tO VîcE-admîRà sOuchONKarl Artelt

Berlîn The Revolutionary Stewards rEpORt By thE eXEcutîvE COuNcî OF thE WORkERS’ àNd sOdîERS’ COuNcîS OF GREàt bERîNRichard Müller ThE nàtîONà aSSEmBy MEàNS thE COuNcîS’ DEàthErnst Däumig ThE COuNcî IdEà àNd ItS rEàîzàtîONErnst Däumig DEmOcRàcy OR DîctàtORShîpRichard Müller “rEvOutîONàRy GymNàStîcS”Richard Müller

Spartacus ThE nEXt oBjEctîvES OF thE stRuggEGruppe Internationale (Spartakusgruppe) ThE bEgîNNîNgRosa Luxemburg ThE USuà GàmERosa Luxemburg ThE nEw buRgFRîEdENKarl Liebknecht ThE nàtîONà aSSEmByRosa Luxemburg Thàt Whîch ISKarl Liebknecht oN thE eXEcutîvE COuNcîRosa Luxemburg Whàt DOES thE spàRtàcuS LEàguE WàNt?Rosa Luxemburg CONFRONt thE COuNtERREvOutîON!Karl Liebknecht TO thE eNtRENchmENtSRosa Luxemburg nàtîONà aSSEmBy OR COuNcî GOvERNmENt?Rosa Luxemburg a PyRRhîc VîctORyRosa Luxemburg aBOut thE nEgOtîàtîONS wîth thE rEvOutîONàRy stEwàRdSKarl Liebknecht DESpîtE It a!Karl Liebknecht nOSkE àNd thE bEgîNNîNg OF thE COmRàdES’ MuRdERSKarl Retzlaw

Xî Xvî XXîv

1

5 19

25

31 40 51 59 76

79 81 84 87 90 93 96 99 107 109 113 116 119 122 126

Brunswîck ThE rEvOutîON HàS COmEVolksfreund

Bremen WE fOught îN bREmEN FOR thE COuNcî rEpuBîcKarl Jannack shàmE! bOOdShEd By thE GOvERNmENt TROOpSDer Kommunist ThE COuNcî IdEà îN GERmàNyKarl Plättner

Bavarîa LEttERS FROm bàvàRîàGustav Landauer ThE UNîtEd rEpuBîcS OF GERmàNy àNd ThEîR CONStîtutîONGustav Landauer fROm eîSNER tO LEvîNé: ThE emERgENcE OF thE bàvàRîàN COuNcî rEpuBîc Erich Mühsam

Appendîx 1: Ruhr Valley DOcumENtS FROm thE rEd ruhR aRmy DORtmuNd àFtER thE bîEEFEd rESOutîONAnton Kalt Whàt HàS bEEN rEày bOthERîNg ME a ThOSE YEàRS…Johannes Grohnke

Appendîx 2: Vogtland fROm thE “WhîtE CROSS” tO thE rEd fàg: YOuth, stRuggE, àNd PRîSON eXpERîENcES (eXcERptS)Max Hoelz

Bîblîography

Index

143 147

149 152 161 164

167 171 199

205

265 268 273 275

277

280

305

315

Ruhr Valley

GERMANY

Kiel

Wilhelmshaven Bremen

Brunswick

Vogtland

Bavaria

Munich

Berlin

aLL PoWer To THe CoUnCILs!